The Great War:Book 1-The Jenova Invasion
by KajiDoragon
Summary: A year after Sephiroth's death, his death cry starts the bloodiest war in Final Fantasy history. Chapters 2&3 added.
1. Prologue

I do not own Final Fantasy or anything pertaining to Final Fantasy. The credit belongs to Squaresoft for making such a good game for this story.  
  
  
  
Prologue  
  
A year has passed since the death of Sephiroth. Cloud is the new president of Shinra, now renamed 'Ancient'. Tifa has moved to Fort Condor to help with the new infant condor that lives on the mountain. Barret has moved back to Corel with his daughter, Marlene. Red XIII, or Nanaki, as he is now called, has taken Bugenhagen's place at Cosmo Canyon, writing the history of the war with Sephiroth, called the "Last Ancient War". Yuffie and Cid travel around the globe in the highwind, looking for rare materia. Vincent has moved to the lake near Lucretia's cave, so he could visit his lost love anytime he wanted. Reeve is Cloud's advisor. Having lost the use of his legs in Meteor's attack, however, he is using the form of Cait Sith to help advise Cloud.  
But everyone is suddenly feeling something wrong with the air. And Cloud, who had become sensitive to the Mako energy since falling into the Lifestream, is sure that something is going to happen soon.  
Something evil.  
  
  
Sephiroth had sent out a final, silent scream that had ripped through space and time at his death. Now, a year afterwards, the cry suddenly burst forth from the crater.  
Deep under the earth, the remaining WEAPONs awoke.  
Under the rubble that was the Junon Cannon, a creature containing blood from a race even stronger than the Ancients heard the call. Its body decimated, it sent its spirit looking for a new form to take.  
In caves throughout the world, creatures of pure Mako took form in the materia that were held there.  
Far off in space, the scream reached out to a planet right outside the sun system. Alien creatures heard the cry and headed for the small, blue and green rock near the burning sun.  
  
Underneath the ground, deeper than where the WEAPONs slept, a clear materia gleamed.  
  
Cloud awoke with a start. Sweat poured down his face. The nightmare had returned again. He had killed Sephiroth yet again, watched as his mind and body had been torn apart with blood running down his face. This time, though, one thing had changed.  
Sephiroth, as he looked down, staring into Cloud's eyes, he gave a loud, horrible scream.  
  
The great war had begun. 


	2. Sephiroth's Cry

Chapter 1-Sephiroth's Cry  
  
  
Nanaki grinned. Just another paragraph and the work would be completed. Who knew that he, Nanaki, son of a great warrior, and a great warrior himself would turn out such a brilliant scribe? He finished the work.  
'The Lifestream sank into its original place, having engulfed and destroyed Meteor. Holy returned to whatever place it had been summoned from. After the destruction had stopped, the upper plate of Midgar, the one that had stifled the air and killed the flowers of the original city, had been totally destroyed. We flew onward, looking at what had been the only great deed of the great warrior, Sephiroth.'  
As he finished writing the name, the air around him rippled. A high-pitched howl of fury rented the air. As soon as it had started, it was gone. Nanaki looked around. He had recognized the voice.  
"I must tell this to Cloud," he murmured. He began to plan for the trip he would make to Midgar in the morning.  
  
Cid and Yuffie sat in the cockpit of the Highwind. They were making plans to head for an island cave that, they had heard, held a powerful red materia. They looked on a map of the world.  
Cid banged on the table. "Damn!" He checked again just to be sure. "The island isn't even mentioned on this map!"  
Yuffie looked at another, smaller one of the ocean northeast of the eastern continent. She pointed to a long chain of islands. "There. One of the northern islands should be the one we heard about. The materia will soon be-"  
The pilot interrupted her. "Captain Cid, we have kind of a problem here."  
Cid looked out of the window. "Damn! Hold on!"  
The air rippled towards them. Klaxons blared as the wave hit them dead on. As the pilot struggled to keep the ship aloft, a scream sounded through the airship. The wave passed on and the ship flew straight again.  
Yuffie looked around. "Did you hear that scream? Was anyone hurt?" They accounted for everyone on the ship. No one had caused the terrible screech.  
Cid looked outside to the direction that the wave had retreated. "Well, whatever just happened, it can't be good."  
  
Barret sat outside of his house. He looked at Marlene playing with her new friends. /Yup. This was the way it shoulda been at the beginnin'./ He relaxed and closed his eyes.  
"So, Barret. This is what you've been doing since you moved here."  
He opened his eyes and saw who had just sat down next to him. "Tifa!" He smiled. "Why didn't ya tell me that you were comin' here to visit me?"  
She looked surprised. "I tried. I sent a message to here a week before I left. Anyways, what have you been doing since you came here?"  
"I've been helpin' the townspeople with rebuildin' North Corel. We've cleared most of the wreckage outa here."  
He looked over at Marlene again and his eyes widened. "Marlene! Look out!" He rushed over and grabbed Marlene and her friends as the air ripple hit them. The scream rang in their ears as the wind bashed them around.  
It passed and he slowly let go of them. The pain-wracked sound had left all of the children in tears. Barret dried Marlene's eyes and said to the children, "Hurry, get to your parents. Sumthin' ain't right around here." He turned to Marlene. "I want you to go with your friends. I'm gonna find out what just happened and I don't want you gettin' hurt." She nodded and ran.  
He looked after her for a while. He looked back at Tifa. She nodded. They hurried for Corel Station.  
  
Vincent looked at Lucretia. Bathed in light, she looked more lovely than ever before. Still, they could not approach each other. Hojo's mind, though twisted, had still been brilliant. The experiments he had made on both of them included giving them a repulsion between the two. They could not get near each other without Vincent being burned from the bright light that flowed from her.  
He cursed what he had been changed into by Hojo's tests. He looked at the vision of beauty in front of him. "It's been a year, now."  
Lucretia looked to the north. "Yes, a year since our child died. A victim of madness, caused by the split minds that resided in him. Ancient, human, and Jenova blood ran through his veins." She looked back at Vincent. "No mortal can stand three minds inside his head. My lineage, my Ancient blood, though I am not an Ancient, has destroyed him."  
Vincent tried to comfort her, but the air inside the cave shook. A piercing cry ran through the cave, chilling even Vincent's blood.  
When it had gone, he looked towards his love. Tears ran down her cheeks as she looked over to the cave. "My child, he cries out! His rage and fury, his pain and madness, all held in that one call." She looked down and turned to Vincent. "If only I could join him, but I cannot leave my place, and no one knows of it except you and your friends." She turned away. "Leave me. I must be alone with my sadness."  
Vincent turned and left the cave. Outside, he looked at the submarine docked at the side of the lake. He knew he had to leave.  
  
Cloud stood with the body of Cait Sith at his side. "So, Cait, did you hear anything strange last night?"  
There was silence for a while on the other side as Reeve hesitated. "I woke up late last night when I heard someone scream. I thought that the air around me was moving, but I could just have imagined it, having just woken up."  
Cloud smiled. "It wasn't your imagination. A huge wave of air traveled from the North Crater. The scream traveled alongside it. Nobody knows what caused it." The smile vanished. "Nobody except me."  
"Well, then, what was it?"  
Cloud smiled again. "Make arrangements for seven people. I'm sure all of our old friends are going to be here pretty soon."  
  
Ultimate WEAPON flew out of its hiding place near Junon Lake. The cry had angered it. It flew off in search of something to destroy.  
  
The creatures came nearer to the blue-green planet. Soon they would take revenge on their lost one.  
  
The clear materia gleamed. 


	3. Meeting

Chapter 2-Meeting  
  
  
Reeve, or Cait Sith, as he will be called from now on, approached the table where the others were sitting. Most were talking, but Barret was looking out the window, at the new Midgar.  
"Ya know," he said, "I thought that nuthin' we would do would help Midgar this much. Too bad Jessie and the others can't see it."  
Cait nodded. "'Ancient' is actually helping the city along. We are planting trees and flowers to help bring oxygen to the city. It's still choked with smoke and filth from when Shinra was here."  
Yuffie noticed Cait and asked, "How do you get energy to the city without using Mako energy? And to the other cities?"  
"Simple, really. Bolt materia are easy to use, they don't suck up spirit energy...all you need are good people to use them and direct them to the power source." Everyone looked up. Cloud had entered the chamber and had heard her question. "Well, I'm sure all of you didn't come to talk about business."  
Cid pounded the table. "You're damn well right we didn't come to talk about business!" Vincent caught his arm and pulled him down. "We're here to talk about that hellish scream thing that happened yesterday!"  
Cloud looked at them seriously. "I'm sure I'm not the only one who knows." He looked around. "Where is Red? I thought he would be the first to arrive."  
Nanaki walked through the door. "I was. I just had a little problem with the guards downstairs. They're probably going to be up here soon yelling something about a lion." He snorted indignantly. "Anyway, did you tell them about Sephiroth's scream yet?"  
Before the others could voice their surprise, a bunch of soldiers came through the door. One pointed to him and yelled, "There it is! Shoot it before it hurts someone!"  
The soldiers raised their guns. With a surprised growl, he jumped across the table to the other side and up into Cloud's office. The soldiers started after him and were blocked by Vincent. Already spooked, one soldier mentioned a vampire and soon they were running down the stairs, screaming.  
Cloud decided to lock the door this time. He called up to Nanaki that they were gone and soon everyone was acting like nothing had happened, though Vincent grinned once or twice afterward.  
Cloud sat at the head of the table. "Okay. Now we know that Sephiroth had started that scream. What we don't know is why it had waited until know to surface."  
They thought a while. Finally, Tifa spoke up. "Maybe we didn't kill Sephiroth in the crater. Maybe we just weakened him enough to keep him from holding Holy. He could still be alive." The others voiced their agreement.  
Cloud shook his head. He still hadn't told them about the battle he had with Sephiroth. "No. Even a fraction from death, he could have had enough power to hold Holy."  
Nanaki offered his suggestion. "I think I know the answer. You all know how powerful Sephiroth was. Even a while after his death, he held Holy at bay. And that would have required tons of energy. I think that when he had died he had done something that hasn't even been accomplished before."  
Everyone was staring at him now. "You all saw how the air rippled when the scream reached each of us. The only way for that to happen would be for it to rip through space. If it could do that, then it could have ripped through time as well. That way, the scream never would have sounded until a year after he had started it."  
Tifa bowed her head. "He was so powerful. He could have been our savior if he hadn't learned the truth. Why did Zach go with him into the Nibelhiem plant?"  
Nanaki smiled grimly. "Because. It was fate."  
Yuffie, who had stopped paying attention as soon as Nanaki started talking, pointed out of the window. "Look, out there!"  
  
Many small bright lights landed near the crater. A larger one landed in the caved in center. The creatures had arrived. 


	4. Ultima WEAPON Attacks

Chapter 3-Ultimate WEAPON Attacks  
  
  
Everyone looked out the window at the small lights that landed near the crater. They stood in silence that didn't break until Barret spoke.  
"Ya know, I would take this as a very bad sign even if they weren't landin' near the crater."  
Suddenly everyone was talking at once, trying to make suggestions. Cid's voice called over all of theirs. "I don't know what you guys are gonna do, but I'm gonna get over there as fast as the Highwind can get me."  
They let the words sink in for a second, then started running toward the Highwind.  
  
Cid reached the cockpit first. He immediately issued orders to the crew. "Set a course for the crater....What the hell do you mean what coordinates!? Just head for the damn lights!"  
The others came in a second after him. Cloud, almost completely out of breath, took a deep breath and told him, "I wish you would have waited for us."  
Barret grinned. "So? We had a harder climb when we went up those stairs in Shinra headquarters, didn't we?"  
Cid turned from the instruments he was studying. "Will you all shut up while I get ready?"  
The Highwind lifted up and took off toward the crater. They all stood in the cockpit. Cloud turned to Yuffie. "So, not airsick anymore when you travel, huh?"  
Yuffie smiled. "Don't make fun of me because of that anymore." She handed a materia to Cloud. "Next time, I won't give it back to you." She walked away. His eyes widened as he checked his armor. An ice materia was missing.  
Cid looked at the radar. He noticed a large blip coming towards them. "Damn! Guys, there's a large something heading towards us, and it's larger and faster than an airship."  
A loud roar sounded in the air as a large dragonlike creature flew right in front of them.  
Barret said what was in everyone's mind. "SHIT!! It's one of those damn WEAPONs!"  
Ultimate WEAPON did a quick turn and headed back towards them. Cid was everywhere, helping and giving orders. "Quick! Head left, it will soften the impact if it hits us! Full speed, try to lose it! Careful!"  
Cloud looked at it. "Hey, it stopped...Crap, the light on its torso is glowing brighter!"  
Cid knocked the pilot over. "Let me handle this!" He cut the power and the ship sank. He immediately turned the power back on and the ship stopped dropping. Everyone watched as a huge laser cut the sky above, barely missing them.  
The creature roared again and flew off. Vincent looked after it. "When was the last time that thing had been seen?"  
Cloud stood next to him. "A little bit after Sephiroth died. I bet that the call upset it."  
The pilot regained his place at the cockpit. "We're just about at the northern continent, sir."  
Yuffie gasped and looked out the window. "Oh, look how nice it is down there. I remember coming here. All of the snow and ice, making it look like a huge diamond!"  
Cid muttered, "Good thing it isn't. She'd probably try to steal it." Yuffie glared at him and looked at the landscape. Suddenly she cried out.  
"Cloud, something big is down there!"  
Cloud looked out the window. His eyes widened.  
Tifa asked, "Cloud, what's the matter? What is it?"  
He could only gasp one word.  
"Jenova." 


	5. The Jenova Swarm

Chapter 4-The Jenova Swarm  
  
  
Cloud looked in horror at the creature below him. There was no mistaking that huge creature for something else. It was Jenova. Barret's voice cut in over his thoughts. "It can't be her! We destroyed that damn headless thing in the crater!"  
Yuffie looked out. "He's right, Barret! It is her! But even if it survived, how did it get out of the crater? It couldn't...Wait!! There's another one! And another!"  
She was right. There were dozens swarming over only the part of the continent that they could see.  
Barret looked out. "SHIT!!! How the hell did so many get here?!?"  
Cid stood at his instruments. "The ground radar says there are hundreds of them. Hold on, we're nearing the crater. What the hell is that?"  
Everyone looked out towards the crater. Nine gasps sounded out simultaneously.  
The whole crater edge was swarming with jenovas. More landed with every beam of light. One landing jenova crashed onto the main viewport window. It hissed at the group before sliding off and falling into the crater.  
Then they passed over it. There were jenova creatures everywhere. They completely filled the crater. Cloud signalled to Cid. "Try to take us for a better look." They dipped towards the ground.  
Immediately, a huge piece of the ground lifted up, shaking jenovas off of it. It reached up and barely missed hitting the Highwind. Cid yelled at the pilot. "UP!!! UP!!! If you want to live another day, pull up! Quickly!!"  
They darted out of range as it swung at them again. Tifa sat, giving a sigh of relief. "That was one BIG jenova."  
They barely had time to think before Ultimate WEAPON flew in. This time it ignored them and went for the jenovas. The big one reached up and grabbed it. WEAPON released its laser and it let go. The WEAPON flew off, roaring.  
Cloud had watched in fascination. "Even that WEAPON had a tough time with that one. How are we supposed to get rid of them. I mean, the Ancients were almost annihilated by one of those things. So, we've got thousands of them and one huge one." He shook his head. "We are gonna have a very hard time with these things."  
Nanaki suddenly perked up. "Maybe we could find something in Bugenhagen's records. He had that machine, maybe we could find somthing with it."  
Cloud suddenly grinned. "Now, that might work. Cid, let's hurry for Cosmo Canyon."  
  
The clear materia gleamed. 


	6. Bugenhagen's Machine

Chapter 5-Bugenhagen's Machine  
  
  
"Well, I'll give him one thing. He's had a lot of good stuff around here. Too bad we can't find any."  
Nanaki looked through the old notes. "Well, Cid, maybe we could find something if you helped us look through this."  
Cloud tore through a huge stack of papers. "No...no...hmmm, he had some information on the WEAPONs. We can use these if we ever get rid of those jenovas."  
Yuffie looked through a bunch of papers. "YES!! YES!! I got it!!"  
Cloud looked up. "What? You found something on the jenovas?"  
She grinned. "No, even better. It's the location of that summon materia!"  
Cid whacked her over the head with a notebook. "Will you forget about that? We're kind of looking for something else right now!"  
Yuffie rubbed where she had been hit. "Hey, we could use it against the jenovas. It's supposed to be such a strong summon...and look! They have three other ones like it!"  
He thought about that. "Yeah, might help."  
Tifa beckoned. "Over here! I found something!"  
They crowded around. Tifa read the note.  
'Jenova is an alien being from the end of our sun system. It had traveled here by accident, when it had been lost from its swarm. We are lucky. If any more of the jenovas had come to us, the human and Ancient races would have been wiped out permanently. They have no known weakness. They are beings of pure power and strength. The lone creature has even corrupted the minds of the WEAPONs, driving them insane. The creature, lying dormant, had been powerful enough to do that. Now, there is news that the creature has been escavated. Hopefully we can stop it before it is too late.'  
The friends stood in silence as what they had just heard sunk in. Nanaki sank to the floor. "It's impossible to beat them, then. If one could cause so much destruction, who knows what the group could do."  
Barret stuck his head from the adjacent room. "Will you guys stop mopin' around and get in here? I thing I got the thing to work."  
They went into the room. They stood in the center of the platform as Barret pulled the lever. They rose into the dome.  
They looked around. Yuffie, who had never been in it before, suddenly noticed the huge materia. Her eyes widened. "Wow! Look at those! Do you think I could take one?"  
The response was instantaneous from all of them. "NO!!!"  
Cloud looked towards the small globe that represented Earth. "I wonder what planet the jenovas came from?"  
Nanaki looked at a panel near the side of the dome. He pressed a few buttons. "Well, let's find out."  
They watched in fascination at the globe. A ripple surronded the planet and reached to the sun system beyond theirs. A small copy of the scream came with the sight. Immediately they noticed the WEAPON they had been attacked by rising into the air, a small black dot. Another dot, the Highwind, got caught by the ripple and started heading towards Midgar. But the most impressive sight took their eyes from their own planet.  
Out of another planet far from the sun came thousands of little tiny lights. Its moon broke away from it and followed the lights. It became apparent that it wasn't a moon as it stretched three long limbs from its body. They all headed towards Earth.  
Sparks flew from the machine and the platform lowered. Barret kicked the machine. "Shit! Damn machine!"  
Yuffie looked at everyone. "Well, since we can't find anything else out, why don't we go get that materia? Please?"  
Cloud sighed. "Well, seems we can't do anything else. Where are we headed?"  
  
The guardians of the red materia waited. The call had awoken them. No one would get the prize they guarded. 


	7. Materons

Chapter 6-Materons  
  
  
Yuffie looked at the map. She made a dot at five different places on the page. "See, at those places, there are strong materia. A summon materia at one of the northeastern islands, the northmost. There's a yellow materia at Wutai, and a purple north of where Barret lives. I think there's one near the southern continent. There's one under Cactuar Island, but I don't think you guys want to get that one."  
Cloud asked, "Why not?"  
She looked at him. "It's supposed to be a forbidden materia. Forbidden to touch, even. Of course, I'm just saying you guys probably don't want to go down there. I, however..."  
Cid nodded his head. "Let's go for the summon. We could use it against those jenovas." He shouted the coordinates to the island to the pilot.  
Soon they passed over the northern continent. They gasped in horror. The Icycle Inn had been totally destroyed. Dead chocobos surrounded the spot where the Chocobo Sage lived. A few jenova were carrying dead bodies to the crater. The images shocked themselves into their memories. They had passed over and were headed for the island.  
  
They landed at the edge of a dense forest. They left the ship and headed for the cave that Yuffie had heard of. Treetops blocked the sunlight, vines choked the paths, and strange calls sounded throughout the jungle. Soon, though, they made it to the cave.  
They looked around in awe. The walls were pure red crystal. They came to an altar where the materia stood on a pedestal. Yuffie gasped and headed for it. A red creature jumped out and knocked her down.  
Yuffie looked at the creature on top of her. It was man-shaped and...completely made of materia!!! She kicked it off into a wall. The wall bended to take him back in. Suddenly it fell apart, revealing a rock wall behind. More of the creatures picked themselves of the ground, where they had fallen. The red crystal covering the other walls stretched out and covered the rock.  
Cloud looked behind them. Ten of the creatures stood behind them and the walls were covered again. The lead creature raised its hand and flames shot out towards them. He used his ice materia to stop the flames from scorching any of them. He turned and ran for the materia, using ice as a shield around him. As he ran up to the pedestal, and large fist shot from the wall in front and knocked him away. The fist vanished and a face appeared in its place.  
The face grinned and spoke. "So, humans. You thought you would get that materia that easily, huh? Well, I bet you didn't count on us being awake. No one can get past me and my red materons. Let me introduce myself."  
It vanished and a man clothed in red walked out of the wall. He smiled and went on. "I am Topaz, lord of fire. It is impossible to get through me and my creatures. In fact, why don't you try? I need a little fun after so long."  
Cloud picked himself up. He looked at Topaz. "Okay, then. Why don't we have some fun too, then?" He snatched the materia and started running. It took a second for what he did to register in his friends minds. Soon they were running as dozens of materons left the cave in pursuit of them. Topaz flamed a couple trees now and then as he ran, starting a huge fire.  
They reached the Highwind and lifted off as soon as the door closed. They left the island, with the materia in hand.  
  
Topaz watched them leave. He was in a foul mood. "Well, think they can cheat in this game, do they? Well, then, I quit. I'll start my own game."  
He stopped the fire with a wave of his hand and signalled to his materons. Soon they were all working on a boat to carry them across the sea to the mainland. 


End file.
